Somebody Needs To Get 4-H On The Line

http://medford.craigslist.org/grd/1215744267.html

Okay, I'm going to cut 4-H a little slack on this one, not much, but a little.

Look at the text, it says this is a 4-H home.

Look at the picture, what is way wrong with this picture??

Look at the text again, it says she's a beginner rider. I can deal with that...

Now, I'm gonna let fly...

A beginner rider on a too-much horse and the kid doesn't even have the reins in hand...hello? Anyone see something odd here? Next, the kid is in capri pants. Actually, I can sort of deal with that as long as the kid doesn't whine or complain about blisters but overall, long pants are the thing to wear when astride a horse.

Now the REALLY big one, whether beginner or long time experienced rider...what the hell is the kid doing wearing a pair of tenny-shoes and her foot is in the stirrup???? These aren't even stirrups that have the cage in the front to keep a kids foot from going through. ANY time you fork a horse in a saddle, you ALWAYS wear footwear that has at least a 1/2 inch heel!! There are even horsey tenny-shoes called Horseshoes that wear like tenny-shoes but if you get on a horse, they have a heel for safety.

So, we have a beginner rider on a too-much-for-her horse in capri pants, not holding on to the too-much-for-her horse's reins AND wearing tenny-shoes to boot!!

Back in the day, when I was in 4-H, if my instructor had seen that, I'd been booted out of the club, no questions asked!! I'm not sure if the 4-H there is falling down on imparting info to their members or this kid is soooo new, she hasn't been properly instructed on safe horsemanship or what is happening. SOME one really dropped the ball on this one!!

In my most humble opinion, 4-H is extremely valuable place to learn proper horsemanship. They have a wealth of knowledge almost second to none so I don't know why such a silly pic would be posted in an ad. I can understand that someone overbought for their kid before knowing about horses, but in today's day and age, with the 'net, you can find all sorts of good horses for your kid in the appropriate riding range.

So, I don't know who's really at fault for the most part, but someone needs to get hold of this family and show them the proper way. Let's hope it's a learning experience for them and they don't get their backs up and ignore good advice.

Jeepers...